The best approach and strategy is to get all lovers of democracy, third party members, and the Occupy movement united and focused on one goal: A constitutional amendment that totally revises Article V so that the constitution can be amended and abolished more easily.
If enough people see all the reforms that can be neatly summarized in a new, updated constitution, they will be more receptive to a new constitution. Having a new constitution does not mean that all former laws and conventions would be discarded. It would be foolish not to preserve the best of the old.
When economic conditions get bad enough, and when reformers realize that their current strategies are not changing things significantly--those reformers, joined by millions of others, will demand that their representatives in the US Congress and the state legislatures pass this amendment. Passing this amendment, as opposed to passing other laws and other amendments, is the most powerful thing reformers can do to improve our democracy and put new life into the political process. The non-electoral methods of protest marches and rallies are still effective, but until we can implement all the needed reforms in one single sweep with a new constitution, not much is going to change quickly enough.
There are other reform efforts going on right now as well regarding the other method for adding amendments to the constitution: According to Article V of the constitution, the 50 state legislatures could have an Amendment Convention (which is not a Constitutional Convention for a new Constitution) to pass new amendments. This is a method that bypasses the US Congress altogether. Unfortunately, the US Congress has not allowed it to happen, even though the Supreme Court has ordered it to do so 4 times. For more information about these efforts, see the website Friends of an Article V Convention at www.foavc.org . In the history of our nation, this method, as now stated in Article V, of adding amendments to the constitution has never been tried or allowed.
According to Article V, as it currently reads, an Amendment Convention must be held when 2/3 of the 50 state legislatures request it. Throughout our nation's history, there have been over 750 requests from state legislatures for an Amendment Convention! The requirement has already been met, and the Supreme Court has ordered the US Congress 4 times to allow state legislatures to have their Amendment Convention, but the US Congress has egregiously and simply refused.
The US Congress, the Supreme Court, and the 50 legislatures must not ignore these requests, nor should they let this issue die. Activists can do 4 things regarding an Amendment Convention held by the 50 state legislatures:
1. Activists can keep informing all 535 federal legislators that they have a duty to allow state legislatures to have their Amendment Convention, and that each legislator is in violation of the law for this refusal.
2. Activists can urge the 50 state legislatures to be more united and publicly vocal in their requests for an Amendment Convention.
3. Activists can urge the Supreme Court to be adamant in its demand of Congress to let the state legislatures have their Convention.
4. Activists can urge the 50 state legislatures, when they finally get their Amendment Convention, to propose and pass an amendment that revises Article V in order to make the constitution easier to amend and easier to abolish.
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